How to Add Someone on Discord

Find your friends and create groups on the chat app for gamers

Man sitting at gaming computer, wearing a lime green and black gaming headset.

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by Anita George
Anita George has been a technology journalist since 2013. Her work has appeared in Paste Magazine and she holds both B.A. and B.S. degrees.
Updated September 02, 2019

Discord is a popular, free voice and text chat app for gamers. But, if you're going to make the most of this communication app for gamers, you'll need to add your friends to it. There are actually several different ways to add people on Discord, including via their profile and by user search.

For the purposes of this guide, the instructions that follow show how to add friends on Discord using the desktop web browser version of the Discord server dashboard. While the Discord app is available for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and Linux devices, instructions for the web browser version should be enough cover how to add friends on Discord, regardless of your operating system.

How to Add People on Discord: Discord User Search

The fastest way to add people on Discord is to search for your friends using their Discord user tag.

  1. Login to your Discord account via the Discord app web browser login screen.

  2. From the Home screen on your Discord account's dashboard page, select Friends, located on the left-hand side of the screen. The Friends menu should open up towards the right side of your screen.

    Friends tab in Discord

  3. At the top of the menu, select Add Friends. This will open a window containing a large search box in which you can search for your friends by their username, also known as a DiscordTag.

    Add Friend button in Discord

  4. In the large search box, type in the DiscordTag of the person you want to add. Once you've finished typing, select Send Friend Request, located at the end of the search box.

    Send Friend Request button in Discord

The DiscordTag should consist of a case-sensitive username, a pound sign (#), and lastly your friend's 4-digit DiscordTag number.

How to Add Friends on Discord: Add Via Their Profile

If you didn't find your friends using search, you can try adding people via their Discord profile, but there are some caveats that apply.

Before going further, it's important to note that, with this particular method, you won't be able to add a friend via their profile if they're not already part of your Discord server or you're not already joined to their server. You have to already have at least one server in common, preferably your own server.

  1. Login to your Discord app account via the web browser login web page.

  2. From your account's dashboard screen, on the far left side of the screen, select your profile icon, which is located right underneath the Home screen icon (which is basically the Discord logo).

    Discord logo icon for Profile acces

  3. Selecting your profile icon should open your server's dashboard. On the far right side of this screen is your chat list. The person you want to add as a friend on Discord should be listed on this chat list. Right-click this person's name, then select Profile.

    Profile menu item in Discord

  4. A small, black dialog box should pop up showing your friend's profile summary. Select Send Friend Request.

    Send Friend Request button from Discord profile page

How to Add People on Discord: One-Click Adds

You can also add someone on Discord if you've been in a chat with them before. It's a fast way to get connected to people you already talk to.

  1. Login into your Discord account via the web browser login web page.

  2. Select your profile icon, which is located on the far left side of the screen under the Home icon.

    Profile icon in Discord

  3. Now go to your chat list, which is on the far right side of the screen. Right-click the person in your chat list you want to add.

  4. From the menu that pops up, select Add Friend.

    Add Friend in menu on Discord